Jay Wilson has edged closer to securing his fourth Japanese Motocross Championship after a strong performance at the penultimate round of the series at Saitama Off Road Village.
Wilson first arrived in Japan in 2022 and immediately made his mark by winning the IA2 (250cc) championship in his debut season. He then stepped up to the premier IA1 (450cc) class for 2023, where he claimed back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. Now, with just one round remaining, Wilson holds a commanding 36-point lead and looks set to make it three consecutive IA1 crowns.
At Saitama, Wilson posted 1-1-4 results to secure another overall victory. He appeared on track for a clean sweep of all three motos before a late incident in the final race saw him tag a lapped rider and go down with only a few laps to go. Despite remounting quickly and charging hard, he had to settle for fourth at the flag.
“I had a good weekend going and winning all three races would have set me up nicely for the final round in a couple of weeks, but it wasn’t to be,” Wilson explained. “I had the lead and was working my way through some of the slower guys when I hit the back of one and went down. It wasn’t a huge crash, but still enough to take some time to get back on my bike and back in the race. With not many laps left, I wasn’t able to get back to the front, but fourth was still good enough to get the round win, so I can’t complain too much.”
The final round of the Japanese Motocross Championship will take place at Sugo in two weeks’ time, where Wilson needs only a solid opening race to secure the title — his third straight in the IA1 class and fourth consecutive Japanese Motocross Championship overall.
